A field study of the effects of elevated CO(2) on plant biomass and community structure in a calcareous grassland

Oecologia
P W LeadleyChristian Körner

Abstract

The effects of elevated CO(2) on plant biomass and community structure have been studied for four seasons in a calcareous grassland in northwest Switzerland. This highly diverse, semi-natural plant community is dominated by the perennial grass Bromus erectus and is mown twice a year to maintain species composition. Plots of 1.3 m(2) were exposed to ambient or elevated CO(2) concentrations (n = 8) using a novel CO(2) exposure technique, screen-aided CO(2) control (SACC) starting in March 1994. In the 1st year of treatment, the annual harvested biomass (sum of aboveground biomass from mowings in June and October) was not significantly affected by elevated CO(2). However, biomass increased significantly at elevated CO(2) in the 2nd (+20%, P = 0.05), 3rd (+21%, P = 0.02) and 4th years (+29%, P = 0.02). There were no detectable differences in root biomass in the top 8 cm of soil between CO(2) treatments on eight out of nine sampling dates. There were significant differences in CO(2) responsiveness between functional groups (legumes, non-leguminous forbs, graminoids) in the 2nd (P = 0.07) and 3rd (P < 0.001) years of the study. The order of CO(2) responsiveness among functional groups changed substantially from the 2nd to the 3rd yea...Continue Reading

Citations

Apr 29, 2005·Journal of Chemical Ecology·Myra C HallMark D Hunter
Sep 18, 2001·Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies·M SaurerY Scheidegger
Jun 18, 2003·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Erika S ZavaletaChristopher B Field
Jun 29, 2004·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Peter B ReichJared Trost
Jun 13, 2002·Physiologia Plantarum·Jennifer S. Hartz-Rubin, Evan H. DeLucia
Sep 9, 2006·Ecology Letters·Halton A PetersChristopher B Field
Sep 1, 2012·Global Change Biology·H Wayne PolleyPhilip A Fay
Jul 5, 2013·American Journal of Botany·Elise S Gornish, Jason M Tylianakis
Oct 16, 2003·Philosophical Transactions. Series A, Mathematical, Physical, and Engineering Sciences·Christian Körner
Jul 12, 2017·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Masumi HisanoHan Y H Chen
Sep 1, 2001·The New Phytologist·Matthias Volk, Christian Körner

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